COVID-19 vaccination elicits an evolving, cross-reactive antibody response to epitopes conserved with endemic coronavirus spike proteins

Evan A. Elko, Georgia A. Nelson, Heather L. Mead, Erin J. Kelley, Sophia T. Carvalho, Nathan G. Sarbo, Caroline E. Harms, Virginia Le Verche, Angelo A. Cardoso, Jennifer L. Ely, Annalee S. Boyle, Alejandra Piña, Sierra N. Henson, Fatima Rahee, Paul S. Keim, Kimberly R. Celona, Jinhee Yi, Erik W. Settles, Daniela A. Bota, George C. YuSheldon R. Morris, John A. Zaia, Jason T. Ladner, John A. Altin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the first widespread vaccination campaign against a coronavirus. Many vaccinated subjects are previously naive to SARS-CoV-2; however, almost all have previously encountered other coronaviruses (CoVs), and the role of this immunity in shaping the vaccine response remains uncharacterized. Here, we use longitudinal samples and highly multiplexed serology to identify mRNA-1273 vaccine-induced antibody responses against a range of CoV Spike epitopes, in both phylogenetically conserved and non-conserved regions. Whereas reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 epitopes shows a delayed but progressive increase following vaccination, we observe distinct kinetics for the endemic CoV homologs at conserved sites in Spike S2: these become detectable sooner and decay at later time points. Using homolog-specific antibody depletion and alanine-substitution experiments, we show that these distinct trajectories reflect an evolving cross-reactive response that can distinguish rare, polymorphic residues within these epitopes. Our results reveal mechanisms for the formation of antibodies with broad reactivity against CoVs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number111022
JournalCell Reports
Volume40
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 5 2022

Keywords

  • CP: Immunology
  • CP: Microbiology
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • multiplexed serology
  • vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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